Thoughts on N scale passenger kits

PolishFinnish Dec 21, 2020

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What passenger train would you like to see first in kit form? (Pick 2)

Poll closed Dec 28, 2020.
  1. "400" - by CNW

    15.0%
  2. "49er" - by CNW, UP & SP

    10.0%
  3. "Challenger" - by CNW, UP & SP

    5.0%
  4. "1941 City of San Fransisco" - by CNW, UP & SP

    15.0%
  5. "Denver Zephyr" - by CB&Q

    20.0%
  6. Other

    70.0%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. Mark St Clair

    Mark St Clair TrainBoard Member

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    "2. Some rivets to somewhat represent the prototype"

    It depends. Some rivets are major parts of the appearance, especially a line of them. Others are hardly noticeable one way or another.

    "I can't remember where I read it but; a modeler should omit details that are too fine to be properly modeled. Do you agree with the motto?"

    Again, it depends. For example, various grabs and ladders are difficult to model to "perfect" scale. Leaving them off is even worse. We end up with quite a few 5" diameter handrails. I do the best I can and really admire the modelers who make those parts look great despite "failing" the caliper test. For me getting the proportions and appearance right is most important.

    Stay safe
     
  2. Maletrain

    Maletrain TrainBoard Member

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    Regarding the B&O dome cars, there were 2 types.

    One was a smooth side with only flat glass in the dome, that was made for the last version of the Columbian, which was really a coach section that ran separately with the Capitol Limited, about 15 minutes apart. During the 1950s the Columbian, the Ambassador, and the Capitol Limited did have a lot of combining and reseparating and car swapping, so this car did end up on all of those trains at some point. Rowa makes that car, but added fluting below the windows. I have a couple and intend to carefully remove the fluting. Names were High Dome and Sky Dome.

    The other dome car was made for the C&O Chessie train that never ran. It is silver fluting all over. That is the one with the unique dome. It has different slope angles to the glass on the ends of the domes, so that one is clearly steeper than the other. It has a fluted center to the dome roof, with sloping flat glass panels on either side of that, and then curved glass panels down to the vertical car sides. The ribs between the dome side panel glass panes are swept back toward one end of the car enough to be noticeable. No models anything like that. So that is the one we need somebody to model. There were 3 of these cars, so 2 ran in the Capitol Limited, one in each train set. The third ran in one of the train sets for the Shenandoah, unless one on the Capitol was out of service for some reason. Names were Sunlight Dome, Moonlight Dome, and Starlight Dome.
     
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  3. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    As I recall, the smooth siders were home built, and had unusually low domes with no compartment underneath them. The cars for the Chessie were Pullmans built by Budd. The Chessies were also to have coach-dome-observations, which were also built by Budd and were sold new-in-the-box to the Rio Grande.
     
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  4. Maletrain

    Maletrain TrainBoard Member

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    The two smooth sided dome cars on the lightweight Columbian were built by Pullman Standard in the late 1940s and delivered to B&O in 1949. They were coach seating, because the Columbian was an all-coach train. There were lounge sitting compartments under the dome. I rode in one of them twice back in the 1960s. But, at that time, I wasn't thinking about modeling it 50-some years later.
     
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  5. rpeck

    rpeck TrainBoard Member

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    Well , my first thought was narrow gauge passenger cars kits but might not be popular.

    Rick
     
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  6. SF Chief

    SF Chief TrainBoard Member

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    Exactly. This is the one where the ConCor corrugated dome (CB&Q photo) serves as a stand-in foob in my Capitol Limited. I'd buy one.
     
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  7. Massey

    Massey TrainBoard Member

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    When I was modeling HO scale, I preferred to build my rolling stock over buying RTR. I loved the blue box kits. I even had a Powhatan Arrow set from ConCor that I had to build. Very enjoyable. I never dreaded getting into an engine when I needed to do maintenance or add a decoder, I was all for that. Now that I am in N scale, I don't really enjoy taking my models apart like I did with HO. I still have good eyes and very steady hands but they are just too small to enjoy working on. I do though prefer the long majestic trains that are possible with N scale, I don't much like working on them.
     
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  8. BarstowRick

    BarstowRick TrainBoard Supporter

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    Rivets? A facsimile would do. I know a Steam Riveter that hast-to count them. One comes up missing on the 1:1 foot scale and that isn't good.
     
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  9. Massey

    Massey TrainBoard Member

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    That's the only type of rivet counter that's worth anyone's time.
     
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  10. mtntrainman

    mtntrainman TrainBoard Supporter

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  11. BarstowRick

    BarstowRick TrainBoard Supporter

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    Not only that but the car is one scale inch to short. :whistle:
     
  12. PolishFinnish

    PolishFinnish TrainBoard Member

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    Heya!

    Just wanted to thank everyone for taking part in the poll. The feedback was helpful! I was meaning to post this earlier in January but I had the winter blues.

    When I posted the poll, I've already 3D printed the original 6 different cars of the 1939 - CNW 400. I'm not entirely satisfied due to layer lines but it has shown some promise. The separately applied handrails was a Abit of a pain but it paid off!

    I haven't done any underbody detail but maybe someday. I have other C&NW cars almost completely designed (for personal use at this time)
     

    Attached Files:

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  13. Bookbear1

    Bookbear1 TrainBoard Supporter

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    Really nice work! I'll bet paint and decals will take the eye away from the layering lines.
     
  14. PolishFinnish

    PolishFinnish TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks! I have that same thought maybe another coat of primer + final painting would fix that.

    I'm debating about making it a flat kit to assemble for easier molding & painting . Possibly a resin model after a high quality master is made. I have to do some detail around the skirting. I dabbled with scaled rivets but I think I'll hold off on those since they didn't turn out too well. I'm considering this the N scale equivalent of the earlier Walthers O Scale passenger car kits - Enough unique detail to match the prototype so you get the feeling that you're looking at the real thing.
     
    Last edited: Mar 15, 2021
  15. jbonkowski

    jbonkowski TrainBoard Member

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    You might want to look into one of the newer resin printers. They will print that small without the layer lines. Less expensive models won't print something as large as an N scale passenger car, but they will be there soon.

    Jim
     
  16. PolishFinnish

    PolishFinnish TrainBoard Member

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    I do have the Egeloo Saturn however I have to tinker with it abit more. I get alot of distortions that I have to figure out. I could orient the model to a larger angle but it increases the print time and support waste.
     
  17. Massey

    Massey TrainBoard Member

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    Make the layer lines work for you. At least in some schemes of passenger cars the corrugated sides resemble the print lines.

    PLA type printers are going to leave lines no matter what. Quality resin printers will still have lines, but they will be virtually invisible especially after you paint them.
     

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